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13 hours ago
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Making a trade for a catcher during the season is a lot more difficult than it seems.
They have to get acclimated to a new pitching staff quickly, and there's no guarantee they will receive the same playing time they had with their old club.
Minnesota Twins backstop Ryan Jeffers is the hottest name on the trade market at the position. Jeffers, who hit seven home runs and posted a .949 OPS in 37 games before undergoing hamate surgery, could switch uniforms come August.
"The AL is mediocre enough that the Twins are hanging around the wild-card race, potentially setting up an interesting deadline decision with Ryan Jeffers," Mike Axisa of CBS Sports wrote Wednesday. "He's a rental, so trading him makes sense, but he's injured (hamate surgery), which could cut into the offers."
One of the teams Jeffers has been heavily connected to is the New York Yankees. For now, those are just rumors due to Austin Wells' offensive struggles.
But what if the Tampa Bay Rays jumped into the mix for Jeffers?
"The Rays are a near lock for the postseason and could stand to make an upgrade at the position," Axisa wrote.
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Jeffers would not only give the Rays an upgrade at catcher, but also another power bat to insert in the middle of manager Kevin Cash's lineup.
Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero have all hit 11 or more home runs this season. Ryan Vilade and Cedric Mullins are next up with underwhelming three roundtrippers.
Adding Jeffers would be a significant deadline move for the Rays and would probably frustrate Yankees fans and the organization's front office.
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